Space Travel

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inspect safety hardware aboard the ISS in August 2024.

NASA's Starliner Astronauts Face Another Delay in Their Return Home, Drawing Out Their Unexpectedly Long Mission

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were supposed to stay at the ISS for a little over a week. It's now been more than six months, and the end date has been pushed again

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds were recently captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit aboard the ISS.

NASA Astronaut Shares Breathtaking Photos From the ISS, Featuring Galaxies and Glowing 'Star Trails'

On his fourth flight, Don Pettit is once again sharing the art of astrophotography, capturing and posting pictures of Earth, satellites and space

The Orion spacecraft during the fifth day of the Artemis 1 mission on Nov 20, 2022

NASA Pushes Back America's Return to the Moon to 2027, With the Next Artemis Program Flight Slated for 2026

The space agency's decision comes after an investigation into the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, which suffered damage during the Artemis 1 test mission in 2022

A stock illustration of an asteroid near Earth. Astronomers believe our "mini-moon" originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt.

Earth Bids Goodbye to Its 'Mini-Moon' as Astronomers Investigate Where Our Planet's Asteroid Companion Came From

Preliminary research suggests asteroid 2024 PT5, which stuck around Earth for almost two months, has lunar origins

The BYU research team at Boca Chica Beach, Texas.

Here's What a SpaceX Starship Rocket Launch Sounds Like, According to New, Detailed Data

Just six miles away from the mega-rocket's fifth test flight, the noise level was equivalent to a rock concert, researchers found

One of the images that triggered rumors about astronaut Suni Williams' health. Here, she displays radiation measurement hardware.

NASA Addresses Rumors About Health of Starliner Astronaut on the International Space Station—Again

The space agency’s chief health and medical officer refutes claims that Suni Williams, who is on the unexpectedly extended Boeing Starliner mission, appears unhealthily thin

An artist's rendering of the X-37B conducting an aerobraking maneuver using the drag of Earth's atmosphere, with the bottom of the craft glowing red as it heats up.

The Secretive Spaceplane of the U.S. Space Force Conducts First-of-Its-Kind Maneuvers

Called aerobraking, the technique allows the highly classified craft to change orbit without using propellant—and some are wondering why the agency has let us in on this news

Image captured by Juno during its 66th perijove, then further processed with color enhancement by Gerald Eichstädt and Thomas Thomopoulos.

Check Out the Stunning New Images of Jupiter From NASA's Juno Spacecraft

On its 66th flyby of the king of planets, Juno has captured spectacular views of the stormy atmosphere, processed by citizen scientists

NASA's aging Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012 and has faced a handful of technical issues over the last year, even as it continues to collect scientific data.

Voyager 1 Breaks Its Silence With NASA via a Radio Transmitter Not Used Since 1981

The farthest spacecraft in the universe went momentarily rogue, but scientists breathed a sigh of relief when it reconnected at an unexpected radio frequency

The Super Heavy booster returning to the launch tower.

SpaceX Launches Starship Mega-Rocket and Catches Its Booster in Midair on First Try

The success is a giant leap toward the company's goal to take humans and cargo all the way to Mars on the world's biggest and most powerful launch vehicle

A rendering of the upcoming RTX Living in the Space Age Hall at Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, featuring the New Shepard rocket booster.

Historic New Shepard Rocket Booster and Crew Capsule Will Go on Display at the Air and Space Museum

The two artifacts donated by Blue Origin achieved record-breaking feats and will extend the museum's story of trailblazing space travel into the present

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft launches on Saturday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Astronauts Stranded in Space Are Now One Step Closer to Returning Home

A SpaceX mission arrived at the International Space Station with two astronauts instead of four to leave room for NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the return trip in early 2025

Jared Isaacman takes the first commercial spacewalk.

Astronauts Achieve First-Ever Private Spacewalk on Polaris Dawn Mission

This morning, tech billionaire Jared Isaacman opened the hatch on a SpaceX Dragon capsule in Earth orbit, as cheering erupted on a livestream

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in Earth orbit.

How to Spot NASA's Solar Sail Demonstration Streaking Through the Night Sky

Amateur astronomers can use NASA's mobile app to find the ACS3 for themselves—a reflective satellite that could appear as bright as the star Sirius

Boeing Starliner's capsule Calypso deploys parachutes during its descent toward Earth late at night on September 6.

Boeing's Starliner Lands Successfully, but Without Its Astronauts on Board

The troubled spacecraft conducted a “bull's-eye landing,” but NASA officials still say they made the right decision to leave its astronauts on the ISS out of an abundance of caution

The spacecraft offered a clear view of Mercury's south pole while completing its fourth of six flybys.

See New Detailed Photos of Mercury From a Spacecraft's Closest Flyby Yet

BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese mission, completed its fourth close pass of the innermost planet last week, and it will enter Mercury’s orbit in 2026 to learn more about its mysteries

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is seen docked at the ISS. After helium leaks and thruster issues, the craft will make an uncrewed return to Earth.

NASA's Starliner Astronauts Will Return on SpaceX Craft in February, Turning an Eight-Day Mission Into Eight Months on the ISS

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft no longer meets safety standards after experiencing technical issues in June, and it will return to Earth uncrewed, the space agency announced

The Polaris Dawn crew at the Kennedy Space Center, from left to right: Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis.

Groundbreaking Mission Attempting the First Private Astronaut Spacewalk Will Target Tuesday Launch

Polaris Dawn is set to be the farthest humans have traveled from Earth since the Apollo program and will test new technology in a "radiation belt" surrounding our planet

A view of the lunar south pole, with Shackleton Crater at the center, assembled from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Scientists Suggest Freezing Endangered Animals' Cells and Preserving Them on the Moon

Shadowed areas in lunar craters may be cold enough to safeguard species' DNA amid "climate disasters and social disasters" on Earth, according to Smithsonian-led research

Humans couldn't survive outdoors on Mars for a number of reasons, including its extremely low temperatures. Scientists are studying ways to terraform the planet to make it more hospitable.

Humans Could Warm Up Mars for Space Travelers by Spraying Tiny Metal Rods Into Its Atmosphere

Researchers propose a new technique for making the Red Planet more habitable by engineering heat-trapping nanoparticles from Martian dust

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